Yesterday, I accompanied Sunshine, one of the women running the program, to meet an incoming student at her apartment and give her the keys, just as Lithe had done for me. On the way to the student's apartment, Sunshine asked me how I was feeling. I said, "One hundred percent excited, and one hundred percent terrified." She said, "What is it that scares you?" I rattled off five of my top anxieties, and she answered, "When you have done something you did not think you could do, you really feel strong."
That advice was important for me to hear at the time, but tonight I discovered the deep place of personal truth from which she spoke it. Even if Sunshine's story doesn't fit with your own religious or spiritual sensibilities, there is something profound here, and it was magical in the moment of her telling.
The Story of Sunshine, as told to me over Greek yogurt at a taverna
"I'm originally from Germany. After college, I was living by myself in Berlin. I had a well-paying job and a circle of friends, but I was really unhappy. There was a terrible darkness in my life. My work gave me no fulfillment and I was missing out on love. I went into a depression and I quit my job and lived on unemployment.
"I decided the only thing to do was give it up to God. So I asked God for a sign about what I should do with my life. The next day, I saw a million signs everywhere, all saying the same thing: 'You must move to Greece. You will marry a man there.' The signs were undeniable. I believe it was a prophecy.
"Some people dream of coming to Greece their whole lives. But I was not drawn to Greece at all. In college I was an anthropology major, and I was much more interested in Asian cultures.
"I resisted the prophecy for eight months. I told myself I must be going crazy. My mother is a doctor, and I even checked my mental symptoms in her medical books. My friends didn't want me to go. They warned me it would be very hard. They said the unemployment rate in Greece is very high, you don't speak the language, and it's impossible to afford an apartment in Athens.
"I wasn't sure what to do, so I went to see a New Age energy reader. She had never met me before. She closed her eyes and didn't say anything for a long time as she focused on my energy. Finally she opened her eyes and said, 'What are you waiting for? Why aren't you already in Greece?' I was amazed, but I said, 'I can't move to Greece. I haven't been working, I have no money.' She pulled 500 euro from her purse and said, 'Here. Go to Greece.'
"I sublet my apartment in Germany for three months, thinking I could just come back if it didn't work out.
"As soon as I got to Greece, my heart opened to it and I never went back. Everything fell into place. I got an apartment in the middle of Athens that is very affordable. I taught myself Greek with books, and now I am perfectly fluent. I have a job I love, working with people I love, on a schedule I love. I have a great boyfriend who is a chef, and many friends. I know I will marry a man in Greece, I just don't know when or how. But I trust in the prophecy, it's led me this far. I take the students in our program to the ancient sites of Greece, and every time I see the monuments and ruins, they speak to me something new. Every day is joyful."
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